| Mona Passage | |
|---|---|
| Canal de la Mona | |
 Location of the Mona Passage betweenPuerto Rico (east) and theDominican Republic inHispaniola (west) within theCaribbean | |
  Mona Passage  Mona Passage  Mona Passage | |
| Coordinates | 18°30′N67°53′W / 18.500°N 67.883°W /18.500; -67.883 |
| Basin countries | Puerto Rico (U.S.) Dominican Republic |
TheMona Passage (Spanish:Canal de la Mona) is astrait that separates the islands ofHispaniola andPuerto Rico in theGreater Antilles of theCaribbean region. Along with theWindward Passage between Hispaniola andCuba, the approximately 80 miles (130 km) wide Mona Passage connects theNorth Atlantic Ocean to theCaribbean Sea, operating as an importantshipping route between the North Atlantic and thePanama Canal. The passage is fraught with variable tidal currents created by the islands on either side of it, and by sand banks that extend out from both coasts.
There are three small islands in the Mona Passage:
The Passage was the site ofa devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit western Puerto Rico in 1918.[1] It is the site of frequent small earthquakes. The passage is underlain by a seismically activerift zone that overprints an older, partly erodedtilted-block structure.[1]Desecheo Island sits on the Desecheo ridge, a narrow east-west ridge that extends west from the northwest corner of Puerto Rico. The ridge forms the southern boundary of the 4-kilometer-deep (2.5 mi)Mona Canyon, which extends toward the north into thePuerto Rico Trench. The east face of the rift has a sharp relief of 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) and is controlled by the north-south-trending Mona Rift Fault. Theepicenter of the 1918 earthquake was located along the east or southeast edge of the Mona Rift.[2]
The Mona Passage connects theAtlantic Ocean waters andCaribbean Sea waters, above asill depth of 400 to 500 meters (1,300 to 1,600 ft). The sill runs along a northwest to the southeast direction betweenCabo Engaño in Hispaniola in the west and theCabo Rojo Shelf in Puerto Rico to the east margin of the Mona Passage. The vertical profile of the low-frequency (periods longer than 2 days) mean meridional water transport is characterized by a two-layer structure. The upper layer lies above a depth of 300 meters (980 ft), with the upper water masses, theCaribbean Surface Water, Subtropical Underwater and Sargasso Sea Water entering the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Below this layer, the Tropical Central Water exits toward the Atlantic Ocean. The mean value for the meridional (North-South) transport for a sampled year was –1.85 ± 0.25sverdrup (Sv) into the Caribbean Sea.[3]
The barotropic tide (surface tide) propagates from northeast to southwest along Mona Passage. The "principal lunar semi-diurnal" constituent, also known as theM2 (orM2), accounts for 52.35% of the total variance observed in the ocean currents, and the semidiurnal current ellipses, with a clockwise rotation, are roughly aligned in a north-south direction.[4]
Semidiurnal tidal currents impinging on a submarine ridge known asEl Pichincho can force the generation of aninternal tide with a wave height of 40 meters (130 ft).[5]Underwater glider observations reveal wave damping as the internal tide propagates south along the Mona Passage towards the open Caribbean Sea.[6][7][8]
Internal tides atEl Pichincho can elevate the turbulent vertical diffusivity values (oreddy diffusion), and with a reduction of theRichardson number at the base of the pycnocline. The development ofKelvin-Helmholtz instability during the breaking of the internal tide can explain the formation of high-diffusivity patches that generate a vertical flux ofnitrate (NO3−) into thephotic zone and can sustainnew production locally.[9]
Higher values ofprimary productivity were observed near the wave trough, than those observed during periods of maximumsolar irradiance at noon.
Images from theModerate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) andInternational Space Station (ISS) photography show the sea-surface manifestation of packets of internalsolitons (or nonlinearinternal waves) generated atBanco Engaño, located at the northwest margin of the Mona Passage.[10][11] The packets propagate either into the Caribbean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean depending on the direction of the currents that forced their generation.[12]
Surface tides, internal tides, internal solitons, inertial currents, and the low-frequency water mass transport between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea make the Mona Passage a very dynamic environment.
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